Yup - much, much more on it. Stuff you won't find in the main media.
Claire Gagné has a big news story, followed by an article that gives a full itemization of the key sections of the study.

You'll find it at allergicliving.com/ruling

Plus there's background on why the CTA has come to consider peanut / nut allergies "disability" for the purposes of air travel.
If you have questions - and you will! - we hope this material is enlightening.

My son had an allergic reaction several years ago on a Southwest flight from Orlando to Boston.
We don’t know how or what happened. We do know that he picked up a toy off of the floor from between the seats, stood up and started to cry and itch at his face. His eyes were beginning to swell, his face was red and he started to develop hives.

We didn’t administer the EpiPen. We probably should have. We did notify the flight crew and gave our son Benadryl. He fell asleep. We’re lucky it was sleep and that he did not pass out.

Any idea on how long it will be before Air Canada has to provide the buffer zone? All I see is that the ruling was on Jan 7 and that the airline has 30 days to respond. We fly Air Canada on Feb 6, so I doubt it will take effect then, but we will be flying back home 3 weeks later, so I am curious if there will be a difference. I do normally call the airlines ahead of time to notify them of DS's allergies and when I called AC this week the lady I spoke with was not friendly at all. She was very short with me and acted like I was wasting her time. I hope when this takes effect and people start giving advance notice, that they start treating them with respect.

In subject line, note that it is re:
Huyer-Nugent Ruling, File No. U3570-15

I plan to do the same and to point out:
That I appreciate that the CTA has understood and recognized the inherent risks to those with peanut and nut allergies during air travel.

That the ruling on Air Canada is an essential first step in protecting highly allergic passengers but there remains need for:
- P.A. announcements to reduce the risk sufficiently by asking passengers to refrain from eating such foods. As experts have advised the CTA, cross-contamination can occur. Over the length of a flight, cross-contact can occur as people touch tray tables, seatbacks and washroom doors/handles.
- A reliable means to communicate to Air Canada/other Cdn. carriers that a passenger has a nut/peanut (or other serious) food allergy. Currently, this is inconsistent at best, which means there is no reliable means to give the "advance notice" to the airline as stressed in the CTA ruling.
- The importance of Air Canada considering epinephrine auto-injector training, as recommended to the CTA by Dr. Gordon Sussman. With anaphylaxis, a passenger may swiftly become incapicitated and need someone else to inject. It is an extremely simple device to operate.
– Air Canada needs to communicate to its flight crews and agents that food allergy is a serious issue.

The Allergic Living campaign had suggested a general p.a. announcement asking passengers to refrain from eating highly allergenic foods such as nuts or peanuts when a person with such allergies is on board, and this was in fact recommended to the CTA by Dr. Gordon Sussman, one of two allergy experts advising the hearings. The CTA ruling instead requests that Air Canada simply make the announcement in the “buffer zone” area. Smith hopes that Air Canada may still choose the general announcement as an easier solution and one that goes farther to minimize risk to allergic passengers.

Air Canada has submitted a proposal for accommodating passengers with serious nut allergies to a federal agency, but refused to publicly divulge any details.

The Canadian Transportation Agency had given Air Canada until the close of business Friday to tell it how the airline proposed to handle passengers with serious nut allergies.

Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada, said Friday in an e-mail statement to Canwest News Service, the proposal being submitted was "confidential."

"It would not be appropriate to publicize it (the proposal) for a couple reasons," Fitzpatrick said. "One is that the CTA and other interested parties need time to review and respond. Second, this submission is being made as part of an ongoing process to accommodate people with nut allergies so it may not be final."

It was not clear if and when the agency would release the Air Canada submission.

I've glanced quickly at the decision (about 35 pages) – and am disappointed.
The good news is that Air Canada hasn't tried to fight the CTA on this. The unfortunate news is that it is doing the bare minimum to comply:

- Buffer zone in Economy, a row ahead and behind are asked not to consume peanuts and nuts. I think the verb used was "invited" not to eat.
- Notification will be 48 hrs., but for now at least the medical code that will be used will require going through the lineup with the ticket agent, can't use the web kiosk.

The CTA response was a great chance for Air Canada to step up, stop serving nuts in Biz. Class. But that's not being done, and the buffer zone in Biz Class is just the two big seats next to each other. In effect, I don't feel welcome in Biz. Class with an allergy.

No word on whether AC would pull cashews from cart service on a flight where an allergic person has given notification.
No PA announcements (as some crews have been doing voluntarily e.g. please refrain from eating pn or tn products as we have passengers with serious food allergies ...")

In general, the tone re allergies did not seem too accommodating; there's a sense of - we're doing this because we have to.

When is Air Canada supposed to implement the CTA ruling? I flew to the UK with my son just the other day and it seems things have gotten worse. I have flown many times in the past but this year, it seems there has been conflict since I first called to ask that the allergy be noted in my son's file (the attendant was very curt and rude). In spite of having phoned months ago to report the allergy, this time there was no record at all on my son's file. The passenger attendant knew nothing about allergies and actually said that the children's meal was probably a way of flagging the allergy. I don't think so! I asked him to make a handwritten note on my son's boarding pass.

I was able to pre-board with no questions asked and when I approached the flight attendant about the allergy and asked if she could make an announcement, she said that the company does not like them to do that. She said that cashews would be served in business class and wanted to know if the allergy was airborne. I spoke to her again about it half way through the flight and she re-iterated that there is nothing in their training manual about announcements (I know it's at their discretion) and she didn't seem to know anything about the buffer zones or the CTA ruling. Although the flight attendants were courteous and were aware of my son's allergy, the message I got loud and clear from Air Canada is.... they don't want any passengers with allergies to fly with them. Perhaps Air Canada is resentful of the CTA ruling and the lawsuits but it is very clear to me that there is very little they wish to do in terms of passengers with allergies. It was very disappointing because I felt that they were more accommodating in the past, even though I don't think we ask for much anyway (we bring our own food and don't expect any other accommodations other than having the allergy noted on the file and an announcement made).

We are not flying back until September so in the meantime, I will call again to have the allergy note put on my son's file and I will see if there will be any improvements on that flight.

I called Air Canada in the UK in order to have my son's allergy noted on his file for the flight back. I was told that they do not make the notes anymore. I even had the attendant double check and he confirmed that they will not make a note about the allergy and made a point (twice) to let me know that they do not have a nut free flight. So again, I feel as though Air Canada is now doing even less than before to accommodate passengers with allergies. I never expected a nut free flight and my son always brings his own food but a note in the file made it a bit easier when approaching the flight attendants. It's going to be interesting to see how things are when the CTA ruling will be in effect.

A big thumbs down for Air Canada. When I have some time I will be contacting Air Canada and CTA about the issue. What is the contact info for CTA for these types of 'complaints'?

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